The palaeontological site of Murero is on a very attractive little road that descends steeply from the pass at Villafeliche. Half way down, the sites are indicated by several information panels.
Over 500 million years ago, the land was covered by vast seas in which different forms of life developed. The fossil beds that you can visit date back to that time and are therefore the petrified sediment from the bottom of those oceans. The stratigraphic sequence, over 200 metres thick, covers a period of about eight million years.
The Murero deposit is internationally important because of the large number and good conservation of some of the creatures that lived in the sea, especially trilobites, of which as many as 80 different kinds have been discovered. Trilobites were marine arthropods that became extinct before the arrival of the dinosaurs. Two routes are signposted but to see the fossils you will have to look carefully, which can become a game for younger children. The site is a Cultural Property and is catalogued as a Historical Site and Spanish Place of Geological Interest of International Significance.
Rev.: PAB 03.05.23